Hi folks!

I come from India. My visa problem is a bit complicated kind and after scanning thousands of forums I have receded into even more of confused state.

Let me give a brief history without which I don't think you guys will be able to imagine how things stand in my case.

1) I was hired by a German IT firm to come to Germany for internship. I was given the work contract in November last year. The contact period was from January beginning to May end.

2) I applied for visa which was rejected since I didn't have the ZAV approval letter. My employers then arranged for ZAV letter which I finally got in March. The ZAV validity dates matched those of my contract.

3) I reapplied for visa (using the same work contract with dates unchanged and the ZAV doc). I finally got the visa in May. This was a Schengen class C visa valid for 44 days.

4) Upon coming to Germany on May 8th, I did all the necessary formalities like registering my residence, registering for Lohnstauerkarte with the aid of the visa I had got form India, the ZAV doc and other necessary documents like health insurance which also brought with me from India.

5) All the above got over by 17th May leaving me 12 days in my work contract. My employers at this stage issued me a new 6 month work contract which had starting date of 18th May.

6) A week or two later I was given a new ZAV document by my employers which was supposed to last till March although my work contract was going to last only till October. (I am a little surprised how my employers managed such dates as my visa was going to last just 44 days and my new contract was for period till October.)

7) My employers asked me to visit the Ausländerbehorde(Berlin) to submit one copy of ZAV document there and get some form of stamp on the passport. The authorities there didn't accept the document telling me submission wasn't required and that my visa was class C visa which couldn't be extended. Effectively they told me I would have to be going back when my visa expires irrespective of what was mentioned on ZAV document.

8) My employers later reckoned ZAV document was ample proof that I had right to live in Germany and work at the firm (as my salary details and employer's name were mentioned on it). They asked me not to worry about what the authorities at the Ausländerbehorde suggested.

After all the above I kept working at the company for 6 months until my contract expired. Around a month before the expiration of the contract, my employers asked me what my further plans were and if I would like to continue working for them.

At this point I decided to visit the ausländerbehörde once more to find out if I would be needing some fresh visa or document as the zav paper I had was linked to my old contract (salary and employer's name is mentioned).

They saw my passport and complained about the fact that my visa had expired long time back and I had no new stamp on it. They asked me to fill a visa-application-form and have given me an appointment for 28th December. I am supposed to carry with me documents like health insurance, residence registration proof and work contract.

So now I list my questions:

Q1) What is the ausländerbehörde calling me for? They asked me to fill up the visa form so perhaps they deem that I don't have the visa and I think they would be doing something about it. Am I right?

Q2) Which contract shall I carry with me - the old one which has expired or the new one which my employers would be issuing me in the coming days?

Q3) My employers asked me to find out how they can tailor the contract so that I stand the best chance of getting the visa. What are the requirements of visa for IT specialist in terms of period of contract and salary? Is there anything else I should think about including in my contract?

Q4) Ausländerbehörde has kept a copy of ZAV document (which, as I stated earlier, was sort of linked to my old contract as my salary is mentioned on it). The ZAV document also states that it is valid till March 2010. Does that mean that ausländerbehörde is thinking that my work contract is still running? If I show them two contracts, the new and the old, will they complain as the salary on the new contract would not be matching what's listed on the ZAV document?

Q5) Should I ask my employers to make my new contract conditional in the sense that it would become valid only if I get visa?

Q6) Should I ask my employers to keep my new contract seamless with the old one in terms of dates so that ausländerbehörde doesn't consider me unemployed for this intermediate period (from the time my contract expired till 28th December when I see ausländerbehörde again)?

Q7) Since the only visa stamp I have on my passport is for Schengen class C, is this fact going to land me into trouble? Will they deny me the visa because of this? (Ausländerbehörde told me class C visa is not extendible when I went there the very first time.)

Q8) If I am denied the visa, what are they going to do? Are they going to treat me like an illegal immigrant or something?

Q9) What exactly is the power and purpose of a ZAV document? The people at tha ausländerbehörde told me its NOT a work permit. It's not visa either as I understand it. I just don't get what is it then?


I would really appreciate if people can answer questions above or atleast throw in their opinions.

thats a complicated case !!

Well, you should have got a visa on your passport first of all as its the visa that counts that if you are staying legal or not.

Some points I think in your case which could be possible are:
--To get a new type of visa (a work visa but Im not sure if its possible for an Internship without german student ID).
--Take new documents which are the latest and possible make sure there are no discrepancies in different documents with numbers (dates/salary etc)

If you could manage a salary of 32k+, I think you have best chance of getting a work visa, even though they ask you to get it stamped in India, shouldn't take more than 2 days if you get a paper from ABH here.

1) How could you just listen to your employer and ignore visa regulations???
2) An immigration office has its final say on residency status!!!
3) You could eventually end up in a prison for over staying and working illegaly without a visa for 6 months. Try to even over stay in any non-EU countries, you will be deported in the next flight!!
4) This case might end up your career in Europe as all EU countries might block your entry in future.
5) even if you get a visa now, on the long run (PR and citizenship applications), you will be affected!!! as you stayed in Germany for over 6 months with out a valid visa.

A close friend of mine, who has a Permenent Residentship (Highly Qualified Visa) in Germany, went to Poland (before Poland joined Schengen!!) without a transit visa and he is now blacklisted in the EU database :-(

But if the officer is 'Good' in your case he needs to be 'Great', He can just take your case and solve it quickly by issuing you a work visa (If you have the ZAV document and the work contract!!).

Just pray that things work out well.!!

Good luck!!

I am not sure what was the reaction when "weezkwear" read the above comments... :-p. I hope still he is able to breathe!

I don't think "weezkwear" has to pay such a big damage! It could happen for a new comer, normally a new comer always tries to listen the local (specially if the local is his/her boss or employer then there is no option for that guy to listen somebody else). Just imagine, a German guy is going to work in India/China where he will get the official paper in local language (Hindi or Chinese, no English or German document) and he is dependent on the employer advice, if something will happen wrong who will be responsible...??

You know, the employer of "weezkwear" should be responsible here. They should know the local rules and they have done the things willingly (IMO) because as long as they can employ a person in such a contract they can easily avoid the social contributions for that particular employee and the same time employer is earning same without having a full time employee responsibility.